The low running time
of this disc is perhaps balanced out
by the rarity of the material it contains
and the excellence of both the playing
and the recording. These are dubbed
as World Premiere recordings, and I
cannot find any evidence to contradict
that. Ries is best known perhaps for
his devotion to Beethoven. He was a
pupil, but also acted as secretary and
biographer. Here Susan Kagan presents
two of Ries' fourteen piano sonatas.
The first is dramatic
in a distinctly Beethovenian sense.
Certain parts sound as if this is a
reduction of a string quartet (admittedly
the same could be said of Beethoven's
Op. 14/2 – of which there is actually
a quartet version!). One can play the
game of spotting Beethoven quotes in
this music if one wishes – if fact it
is basically unavoidable, as I will
demonstrate below) but it is worthwhile
also appreciating the fact that Ries
is trying to hew his own way in the
familiar sonata territory.
The first movement
of the C major has an opened-out quality
to it (particularly the development)
that recalls Beethoven's Op. 2/3. Kagan
has all the technical, intellectual
and musical means at her disposal to
delineate the structure and lead the
listener through the changing territory
with ease. There are moments of Schubertian
charm here, surrounded by the oak-like
strength of the Beethovenian trees.
The slow movement marked
'Adagio ma non tanto' has some links
to the slow movement of Beethoven's
great Op. 10/3, at least at first. It
does not quite plumb the same depths
(it would presumbly be much better known
and recorded if it did!), but it is
a notable piece in its own right. Talk
of Op. 10/3 is particularly apt as some
of the right-hand figuration seems derived
from Beehoven's Largo e mesto. The next
movement, a Menuetto, does not seem
keen to break the spell of the Adagio
(the same thing happens in Op. 10/3,
where the third movement creeps in from
the silence that followed the lonely
repeated low Ds that concluded the slow
movement). Ries is, if anything, more
melancholy than Beethoven in his continuation.
The finale begins with a figuration
that could easily form the basis of
the accompaniment of a Schubert Lied
before the slightly, but affectingly,
pecking subject enters.
The second sonata on
this disc is perhaps the more imaginative
of the pair (although this is not to
downplay the first's delightfulness).
It is in only three movements, and begins
with a calm serenity that is much more
closely related to Schubert's sonatas
than Beethoven's. Kagan changes her
game in response, introducing melting
phrasing to her expressive first-movement
armoury.
There is no equivalent
slow movement here. Instead, Ries pens
an 'Andante quasi Allegretto scherzando'.
The scherzando element seems to lie
in the appealing, prevalent staccato
which Kagan realises so touchingly (particularly
when Ries adds appoggiaturas!). The
finale returns to the cosy, no-hurry
feel of the first movement, juxtaposing
orchestrally conceived sonorities with
muchmore delicate, clear-cut ones. Kagan
relishes it all.
The recording is excellently
focussed. A superb release.
Colin Clarke
Susan Kagan (piano)
